Gossip [Import, Original recording remastered]

Paul Kelly | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 28, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Mushroom Records
• ASIN: B00009L4VP
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #523,177 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Last Train to Heaven

2. Leaps and Bounds

3. Before the Old Man Died

4. Down on My Speedway

5. White Train

6. Randwick Bells

7. Before Too Long

8. Adelaide

9. I Won't Be Torn Apart

10. Going About My Father's Business

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Tighten Up

2. I've Come for Your Daughter

3. So Blue

4. The Execution

5. Incident on South Dowling Street

6. Maralinga (Rainy Land)

7. Darling It Hurts

8. Look So Fine, Feel So Low

9. Stories of Me

10. Don't Harm the Messenger

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Produced by Alan Thorne and Paul Kelly, 'Gossip' was originally released as a double album in September 1986 - peaking at #15 on the National albums charts achieving gold record status. There was singles chart success for "Before Too Long" which peaked at #15 and "Darling it Hurts" reaching #25. 'Gossip' was also widely released in America - launching Paul Kelly and his band - now called The Coloured Girls (after a line from Lou Reed's 'Walk On The Wild Side') on an American tour, initially supporting Crowded House and then head-lining, travelling across the United States by bus. "Darling it Hurts" peaked at #19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in 1987. The New York Times rock critic, John Pareles wrote "Mr. Kelly sang one smart, catchy three-minute song after another - dozens of them - as the band played with no-frills directness." following the band's performance at the Bottom Line Club in New York. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Australian, June 23, 2006

By 

Sue (Perth, Western Australia Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gossip (Audio CD)

I can't believe this hasn't been reviewed by an Australian fan yet. This is definitely one of my favourite Paul Kelly albums and the first one I listened to (and bought) way back in '87. Beautiful, spare, raw and the songwriting is just so incredibly evocative - Paul just makes it look so simple because he is so incredibly good at telling the stories of these peoples lives (his own?) - and our lives. Here's a couple of examples:

In one hand
Out the other
Baby I don't even know why you bother
Darling it hurts to see you down Darlinghurst tonight
(from 'Darling it Hurts' about a guy who finds out his (ex?)girlfriend is stuck on the prostitution/drug addiction merry-go-round) You can hear the sadness and frustration pouring out in this song

I was down at Baker's Hall
I heard somebody talking
That's the last thing I recall
Then my mind went walking
I woke up with a heavy head
On a hard bed trying to believe
These stories of me
(from 'Stories of Me' marks a man's decline into alcoholism after his partner leaves him) Sad and rather depressing but so true as well and the music is subdued and moody perfectly fitting the lyrics.

Maralinga is a haunting song that provides a sort of testimonial from the aboriginie's who suffered the effects of nuclear testing by the British in the '50's. And there are plenty of other great songs on this double album.

I truly believe Paul Kelly is one of the best singer/songwriters around - anywhere - and I recommend either Gossip or Under the Sun as a great way of introducing yourself to his work.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The full gamut, May 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gossip (Audio CD)

Paul Kelly has made some great albums. This is his best. The quality of song writing is from the top drawer and the 17 tracks are stylistically diverse. And yet the album is fluent and coherent. The playing is simple and crisp, enhancing the songs in a rare and oganic fashion. Lyrically, it is the album in which he came of age. There had been hints at this depth but not this consistency.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From The Mists of an Eighties Fog, October 9, 2007

By 

PHILIP S WOLF (SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gossip (Audio CD)

For fans of rock music, the mid-Eighties were like being stuck in a dark cloud of hair-bands, cheesy sythesisers & drum machines. Here in America, it seemed that all was indeed lost. But, in the Southern Hemisphere, this great record was released (in 86) without our knowledge. What a loss that is for all of us, we missed out on something great: "Gossip" by Paul Kelly.

This was the second record from Paul. I first heard this record way back in the winter of 93 (July) during a holiday in Sydney (after: "Under The Sun"). This one turned my ear sideways with the very first listen. This artist is a major talent, and it's all right here. This was a double Lp (remember those?), 21 tracks, 72 minutes of fantastic music.

The Opener: "Last Train To Heaven" is like a chant from a bayou. It's very dreamlike and hypnotic. "Leaps and Bounds" must have been a hit single as it's too good not to have been one. Also, the great rocker: "Before Too Long", which I had already heard on the car radio while driving through Kansas.

Paul's songs tell stories: "Before The Old Man Died" "White Train" and "Randwick Bells" seem right outta little incidents that he experienced. There are flat-out rockers: "Down On My Speedway" "Darling,It Hurts" mixed right in with more reflective pieces: "Somebody's Forgetting Somebody" "Maralinga" (Rainy Land) that feature Paul's, acoustic playing very nicely. The amount of musical styles presented vary with a touch of rockabilly,folk-rock and down right pop (and that can be a good thing!) to traces of reggae, jazz and country music. Paul, took his place in the Oz music scene as this record became big down under and he is STILL a major force in music in his home country to this day.

I have purchased many more of his great records, since buying this gem, and I still feel lucky to have stumbled across this wonderful artist by chance way back in that record store on another Continent way back in that other century. Start here, listen to Paul Kelly, you won't be sorry.
This is Great Music!
Four Stars!